Market Trends: Intensive Bidding on Classic Guns at RIA

Pat Hogan — Rock Island Auction Co., Rock Island, Ill. At its most recent 2015 auction for firearms and related items, Rock Island Auctions (RIA) sold over 7,000 items, on over 20,000 sealed bids plus another 3,700 phone bids, for an auction total of $5.6 million in sales, noted owner Pat Hogan.

One of the auction’s surprises was the intense back-and-forth bidding for a gold — finished Auto Ordnance Corp Thompson Model 1927 A1 semi-automatic rifle that came with its own drum mag and “violin” case.

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A phone bidder and an Internet bidder duked it out, with the Internet bidder taking the Thompson for $5,175.

Colt “snake guns” — those high-quality Colt revolvers with names like Python and Boa — continued to shine, with a pair of popular Colt Diamondbacks easily exceeding its high estimate and selling for $4,025.

Classic collectibles did well, too, at this RIA auction, including a Civil War Henry rifle, which sold for $25,875, and a scarce Smith & Wesson model 320 Revolving Rifle, with a 16-inch barrel, that pulled in $12,650.